Cartridges were greased with pig and cow fat, which meant Indian soldiers of Muslim and Hindu religion felt immoral while doing this, it went agaist their religion

•Hindus regard cows as sacred.•Hinduism teaches ahimsa
(do
not cause harm to animals).
•In many Indian states it is illegal to
eat the meat of the cow.
•Islam forbids the consumption of pork as
it is not halal.

The Meerut Mutiny, May 1857

Areas affected by the mutiny

•The rebellion began in May 1857 in Meerut
with a mutiny of Sepoys
•Within days it reached Delhi where
Bahadur Shah was proclaimed Emperor of India
•In June, led by Nana Sahib, it spread to
Kanpur – the British fort was besieged & captured.

it was the refusal to bite into those Enfield musket cartridges that led, on April 24, to the imprisonment of 90 soldiers of the Third Indian Cavalry in Meerut. They were sprung from jail on May 10 by the mutinous sepoys, who then marched on Delhi.

Long term causes

Political and administrative reasons

Expansion of British control through Subsidiary Alliances (1807)

The Doctrine of Lapse united Indian rulers in resentment of the British

This led to discontent in Jhansi (1853) Satar (1848) Nagpur (1854) and Awadh (1856)

Nana Sahib's Kanpur Revolt & the Rani of Jhansi were motivated by such anger

The poor treatment of Bahadur Shah Zafar was especially important

Westernisation

Adoption of English as official language 1835

Creation of a new administrative cadre

Overdiscrimination towards Indians

Economic causes

The 1813& 1833 Charter Acts opened India up to free trade as the EIC lost its monopoly

This benefited British merchants, shareholders and businesses much more than India

India's cotton trade suffered in particular

De-industrialisation and impoverishment were rife

Social & Religious causes

There was a false widespread belief that the Evangelicial British were aiming to convert India to Christianity